Does your cat dig in your houseplants?
By sylvrrain
@sylvrrain (659)
United States
February 2, 2007 10:26am CST
I recently adopted an adorable kitty, and gave it to my husband for Christmas. He is a lovable little thing, but just in the past week or so he is making a big mess of my house. When I come home from work, or shopping, I almost always find a plant that has been dug up and the dirt is scattered all over the floor. It actually looks like he is playing in the dirt. The poor plant will be laying in the floor with no dirt on the roots, and the pot will be under a table somewhere. Does anyone else have this problem, and when will it stop?
Other things I find when I get home, a dining room chair knocked over, all sorts of things in the floor, lamp knocked over, curtains messed up, etc. It takes me a good 15 minutes each day just to clean up after this kitty. He is about 4-5 months old. He gets into these moods where he runs through the house back and forth, and he picks up anything he can in his mouth and carries it around,(pretty funny actually) I never know what I will find, LOL.
Any suggestions, or do I need to just wait till he gets older to calm down?
5 people like this
10 responses
@Seattle2007 (344)
• United States
2 Feb 07
Hi there...consider using river rock (larger than pebbles) on top of the soil of your houseplants. Not only is it decorative, but it allows the water to pass when watering and harder to lift and accidentally ingest unlike pebbles and small mothballs.
Although mothballs have been known to deter some cats, please avoid using mothballs as it is considered lethal to cats when they lick this off their paws. Mothballs contain Naphthalene and is twice as toxic as paradichlorobenzene, and cats are especially sensitive to naphthalene. Signs of ingestion of napthalene mothballs include emesis, weakness, letherary, brown-coloured mucous membranes and collapse. Paradichlorobenzene mothballs may cause GI upset, ataxia, disorientation and depression. Elevations in liver serum biochemical values may occur within 72 hours in ingestion.
See for more on mothball dangers to pets: http://www.cvm.uiuc.edu/ope/enotes/showarticle.cfm?id=89
My source: 27 year friendship with a veterinarian and medical background
3 people like this
@sylvrrain (659)
• United States
3 Feb 07
Thank you so much for the information you have provided. I am glad you let me know about the mothballs. I would hate for my new baby to get sick because of something I did. I really appreciate your knowledge on this subject.
I have given you a high rating, and I would love to have given you the best response, but I gave the best respose to someone hours ago.
1 person likes this
@Seattle2007 (344)
• United States
3 Feb 07
Hi there...I'm honoured I could help. Please forgive me for I am bit overwhelmed being new to myLot and their layout format which is confusing to me. When I joined my primary focus is to help others when it comes to feline behaviours, training, medical care, positive discussion as well as sharing the love of our cats.
2 people like this
@finlander60 (1804)
• United States
3 Feb 07
I was going to suggest the river rock as well, as my wife has found that is also acts like a mulch, slowing evaporation from the plant. Less watering and less work for her. Anchors the plants better, too. Red pepper on top of the soil works for some cats, but we have a stray we picked up that is wild about Mexican food so that is not a deterrent.
2 people like this
@jhrcsr (348)
• United States
2 Feb 07
Kittens are sooooo fun! They are curious and they get into everything. As for the houseplants, my cats like to dig in the dirt. I solved this by leaving a plant container on the ground (well within their eyesight) that is full of nothing but dirt. I would squirt them with water if they got into the other plants, but leave them alone with that one. They hate being sprayed, so they stay far away from the others.
2 people like this
@sylvrrain (659)
• United States
2 Feb 07
Spraying them, thats a good idea, how long did it take for them to get the message?
1 person likes this
@cabergren (1181)
• United States
3 Feb 07
My youngest just loved my plants. Chewing on the leaves and digging in the dirt. I got some of that spray they call bitters. I just spray this on the plant and in the dirt and they don't like the smell or the taste and it has kept her away. You have to spray every couple of days. She hasn't touched my plants since.
@eddypranata (59)
• Indonesia
3 Feb 07
hhmm... like this problem, how annoying and difficult to solve that except we take the kitty far from our house.. but, it's happen to our heart because if without that kitty we are so lonely about that situation.. but , if the kitty in there , a big mess has come..
hmm.. without that kitty which make situation become crowded , it's so quiet in the house..
In my opinion , maybe we must wait till he gets older.. sometimes, we do anything with patient , the result will positive in the future.. hehez..
1 person likes this
@sylvrrain (659)
• United States
4 Feb 07
you are right, I love this little kitty. I do have patience, and the energy to clean up after him. I will keep him with us.
@Booboos11 (134)
• United States
2 Feb 07
I have a cat that will do that sometime she was even pooping in the plants i was told to get moth balls and put them on the top of the soil and it worked for all of my plants except for one of my floor plants.
2 people like this
@sylvrrain (659)
• United States
2 Feb 07
I have not had a problem with him going in my plants, thank goodness. I do like the mothball idea, I may try that. Does it harm your plants in any way? Does it make your house smell like mothballs? I guess I just remember my greatgrandmothers house...LOL.
1 person likes this
@Polly1 (12645)
• United States
4 Feb 07
Your kitty sounds like my kitties times two. I have two kittens that adopted me as their new momma. They are nutty, times two. They sound like a herd of elephants running up and down the stairs and thru the house. They also like to dig in my plants. I also have a bird that they delight in terrorizing. Last night I had to get up two times from them jumping on the birds cage. The last time the cat was laying on the floor looking innocent, haha. I have a spray bottle with water in it, when I catch them doing something they are not supposed to do, I give them a squirt. Now all I have to do is show them the bottle and they quit whatever. They still get sneeky, the kitty will eventually settle down.
1 person likes this
@sylvrrain (659)
• United States
2 Feb 07
You are lucky, because it sure is one big mess to try to clean up. LOL. Especially if I have recently watered them.
1 person likes this
@faerieingrey (323)
• United States
4 Feb 07
My cat used to dig. People have already said what I was going to say, but if what you tried doesn't work, I can combine two suggestions to be what I did that worked - I put biggish pebbles over all the dirt and sprayed them with bitter apple spray. She didn't like the smell or taste, so she didn't play anymore. Now she just chews the plant leaves, which isn't great but isn't overall that annoying or troublesome. The vet said that she is likely to calm down a bit as she gets older. Best of luck!
1 person likes this
@mathias101 (2)
• United States
3 Feb 07
i had a cat about 5 years ago
whenever we left the house for even 5 minutes there would be dirt everywhere and all of the plants sitting on the ground would be ripped and stuff
but after a month of so my cat just stopped for some reason
oh well
1 person likes this
